Debate sparks over male idols showing underwear on stage

Recently, a discussion in a popular online community has gained traction among Korean netizens.

On July 14, a netizen created a post with the title, "Is a trend for male idols to show their underwear as a concept these days?" on Instiz, a popular South Korean forum. The poster explained, "I thought it stopped, but I guess it's trending again," and included a photo of EXO's Kai during a soundcheck.

In the photo, Kai was seen holding up a mic he took off, but the wire got caught on his shirt, lifting it to show his underwear. 

This sparked a clash of opinions on the popular forum, where many Korean netizens argued that excessively showing underwear feels inappropriate and criticized it as not even being flattering. However, one fan shared a video from the event, arguing that the photo captured only a brief moment and that Kai was not intentionally or excessively showing his underwear.

Korean netizens debated:

"Eek!"

"Who is this? He did lower his pants too much."

"Male idols wearing overlapping underwear or showing it off seems to be a trend now... even doing photoshoots like that. I don’t get what’s cool about it. It’s seriously not stylish at all. Please stop."

"This is way too low."

"I’ve gotten used to seeing the waistband, but I was shocked by this photo."

"That's... really pulled down... Do idols normally wear their pants that low?"

"I feel uncomfortable."

"He even showed his underwear at Waterbomb... and now he's lowering his pants even more."

"Is that even comfortable to wear?"

"I seriously hate this."

"Even the waistband makes me uncomfortable…"

"Even if it's not ugly, isn’t it super uncomfortable to wear like that?"

"Just pull your underwear up instead of pulling your pants down…"

"Why does it feel like the belt is around his butt, not his waist?"

"Please stop. This is too much and looks bad."

"Isn't that too risky for dancing?"

"Looks like he stopped halfway through changing clothes."

"Was it pulled down or did it fall?"

"How are his pants not falling off?"

"Isn’t this hard to walk in? Like walking like a penguin?""I like it, but I understand why others don’t."

"This is just a trend. Getting tired of everyone attacking one person."

"I think he looked fine in the other photos from the comments."

"It might’ve just been a moment when the mic moved his clothes. People are blowing it out of proportion over one frame."

"In other photos, it looks okay. This one's probably just a weird frame."

"This kind of sagging style is popular now. Other idols like RIIZE and ALL DAY PROJECT's Tarzzan do it too."

What are your thoughts on this discussion? Let us know in the comments below!